FlexSense plastic sheet adds deformation gestures to any display

Gesture controls are all the rage on mobile devices right now, but many of the cool things that such control can offer users typically requires extra sensors or cameras in order to work successfully. FlexSense is an attempt to offer gesture controls without extra sensors embedded in the hardware, and is doing so by adding a removable Smart Cover-esque sheet of plastic to any given device.

When you think about all of the extra tech that went into dismal failures like the Amazon Fire Phone, you can’t help but feel a little discouraged about the potential for that kind of tech to go mainstream anytime soon. Amazon may not have done a great job making a phone, but the software concepts are well worth trying to build an experience around. It’ll probably be a while before we’re ready to deal with full face tracking and 3D UI changes, but active screen adjustment based on gestures is something everyone can appreciate.

What makes FlexSense such a great idea is the potential for this tech to be applied just about anywhere. The gesture controls offered by flexing/deforming the plastic sheet over your existing display means any tablet could use something sized appropriately for the screen. All you would need is complimentary software that accepts those deformation inputs, and it’s easy to see how the next generation of smart covers or even projector-based educational tools could use this tech.

FlexSense is still in its research stages, so we won’t see a commercial use for it anytime soon, but this could be a great stopgap between out existing touch setup and a full body tracking UI.